Cigarette-manufacturing machinery



July 16, 1929. N. M. HOPKINS 1,721,117 A C IGARETTE MANUFACTURING MACHINERY Filed March 24, 1925 2 Sheetis-Sheet l July 16, 1929.,

N. M. HOPKINS CIGARETTE MANUFACTURING MACHINERY Fi led March 24,

1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 0' 0 8 0 2 7 I mu M a. 6 1 6 6 1 m f a 7 m 1 7 m u, l

am 0 I MT a w: 0 I 8 IO 3 INVENTOR Patented July 16,1929. 1,721,117 .-UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEVIL MONBOEHOPKINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

creaanrrn-mmurac'rnnme MACHINERY.

Application filed march 24, 1925. Serial m. 17,957.

'This invention relates to novel mechamachines in diagram and partiall in secnisms or machinery for making cigarettes, tion. Figure 2 is a top plan view this mapartirularly to novel mechanisms and machine. 1n diagram and partially in section. chinery for manufacturing a compound ciga- F igure 18 a top view considerably enlar ed 60 rette of uniform smoking ualities, due to of the cigarette paper passing through t llS the proper distribution of t e tobacco with machine and containing the compound respect to nicotine and other volatiles. spread of' different tobaccos thereon as It is a scientific fact thatan ordinary planted by my novel mechanism. Figure cigarette made up of one kind of tobacco, or 4 1s a longitudinal section, full-sized through 65 of tobacco of uniform strength or flavor, or one of m compound ci arettes. Figure 5 of tobacco with other uniform characteris a great y enlarged sectional view through istics, from end to end, grows stronger to part of the mechanism shown in Figure 1. the taste as it is smoked, because the tobacco Figure 6 is a top plan view in partial seclying between the burning end, and the lips tion greatly enlarged of a portion of my spe- 7 I of the smoker in the cigarette, is successively cial mechanism.

augmented in strength by the condensible The drawings are largely'in diagrammatic volatiles, nicotine, flavors, etc., or in flavor form, with various simple features of the to the taste, as the cigarette is intermittently machine eliminated. pufi'ed or drawn upon from the portion hth further .reference to Figure 1-2O 75 of the cigarette in the fire zone, and it is an is the cigarette paper wound in a bobbin object of my invention to provide novel passing over the tightening wheel 21 and mechanisms and machinery to so construct a around the larger wheel 22 where it is printcompound cigarette, as to eliminate, or to re ed with cross bands and letters as hereinduce as much as possible, this increase in after described, by the print wheel mecha- 80 25 strength toward the end of the smoke, due to nism 23, running in contact with the ink the aforesaid condensed volatiles, as the wheel 24. The band of paper 20 continues cigarette is consumed. in its route, and passes over the cylindrical In my 'co-pending applications as follows: roller 25 giving it a horizontal position, and Ser. No. 756,732, filed December 18, 1924:, moving in the direction of the arrow 26,supmethod of improving cigarettes, cigars and ported by the belt 27, running over the pulpipe cartridges; Ser. No. 756,733, filed Deleys 28 and 29. This belt is driven at a unicember 18, 1924, cigarettes, cigars or pipe form motion from right to left by a system. cartridges; Ser. No, 1,192, filed January 8, of belts not shown here in the interest of 1925, machines for treating cigarettes, cigars clearness, furthermore, this belt is naturally and pipe cartrid cs; Ser. No. 15,589, filed and normally in contact with the paper March 14, 1925, cigars; and Ser. No. 15,588, band 20 which it supports and drives, but for filed March 14, 1925, method of manufacturthe sake of clarity-it is shown with a space ing cigarettes, there is a detailed discussion above and between itself and the paper band. of the theory upon which the type of ciga- The band continues its travel until it meets 40 rette to be made in the" present machine is with the additional supporting and driving based, together with some'discussion of the belt 30--30, running over the cylindrical pulprinciples of chemistry involved. No con-' ley wheel 31 and the tightening wheels 32 siderable. discussion of this theory is necesand 33 of a width to support and drive thev sary in the present application, but the obpaper band, passing under and around the ject of this invention is to provide a machine large cylindrical drum wheel 34 and back to by which cigarettes may e made in which the pulley 31 by way of the cone 36, passing quantities of-mild and strong tobacco are inthrough a slot 35 and in the said cone-fornicorporated in the paper Wrapper in such ing device 36. v manner that when the cigarette is smoked, he paper 20 then continues to move in 195 the qualityof the smoke is of uniform the direction of .the arrow 37, supported by strength throughout the burning of the the belt 38 running over the pulleys 39 and cigarette. 40, also belt and motor driven by simple Referring to the accompanying drawings, mechanism not shown here for the sake of forming a part of this specification, in which clearness.

' like numerals designate like parts in all the The large tobacco bin at the right 41, is

views, Figure is a side View of one of my equipped with gears 42, 13 and 44 which are driven by the pinion of the electric motor 46, and said gears drive interior rollers, belts and feeding mechanism, according to standard practice for sprinkling tobacco at-a imitorm, or substantially uniform rate, at the lower edge of the bin 48, on the upper side of the paper band 20, the tobacco being indi rated at 49.

\Vith further reference to the large cylilndrieal or drum wheel 34, the belt mechanisms described, and in turn, the paper band 20 are driven by the driving belt from the pulley 51 o'f'the. electric motor 52 in a uniform, or substantially uniform motion. It will be apparent that in the, machine there is a continuously operated, or continuously friction driven paper band'SZt), moving from right to left of the drawing. and a continuous sprinkling, or shower of tobacco upon the upper side of the said moving paper band, which in ordinary standard practice, passes directly through the forming cone 3G. by the friction of a soft and pliable belt, which enters the forming cone. with the paper band and tobacco, but which leaves the cone through a bottom opening just before the paper rope leaves the. smaller end of the said cone, having the seam pasted by the pasting wheel 53 and having the. paste dried by a blast of air from the centrifugal blower 54, and then being cut oil by the reciprocating and rotating knife, an edge view of which is shown at 55'. The knife. is given a reciprocating motion back and forth, and up and down, according to standard practice, and the beveled gears shown in dotted lines 59 and ($0, and the rotating disks (S1 and (32, supporting and drawing the yoke member (33. The disk knife'55' is driven at high speed by the independent electric motor 64. This up and down, and back and forth motion of the revolving knife, is common practice in standard cigarette making machines, adapting the knife to cut off cigarettes at automatic regularly measured intervals from the cigarette rope, as formed from the paper band and tobacco contents forming cone, pastor and dryer without in uring or buckling said rope. In the present drawing, a cigarette (55 is shownimmediately after having been cut oti' from the end of the cigarette rope, made from the cigarette paper 20 and the contained tobacco 49.

l/Vith further reference to the tobacco bin 41 and the steady sprinkling or feeding of tobacco from the lower edge 48, and the spread of tobacco 49, according to standard practice, a portion of my novel tobacco removing mechanism is shown at 66 which. is associated with a centrifugal blower 67 and driven by an independent electric motor immediately behind, and not shown in the present diagram. 68 is a belt wheel operating my tobacco removing mechanism, and being driven by a belt 69 from the wheel 70 which in turn is operated by the belt 71; The housing of the tobacco removing device connected to the uptake 72 which discharges-smile of the. tobacco at. the point 73 back into the top of the open bin 41. .The details of the. mechanism of this'tobm'co removingdevice will be more fully disclosed in a subsequent detailed view, but it may be stated here that the. said tobacco removing device periodically picks up. fronrthe moving paper band, small masses of tobacco and returns it to the main feeding bin 41. Immediately to the left of this main feeding bin 41 is the auxiliary tobacco feeding bin. 74 cut away at 75, to show a different kind of tobacco or other substance 76, being fed by the roller and feeding belt mechanism 77--77. The roller Feeding devices 77 are operated'by an electric motor in the usual manner. Preferably these roller feeding devices will have an intermittentaction for purposes presently to he described. Operated by the belt 78 are the gem-wheels 79 and 80 which operate feed rollers within, which feed or plant the tobacco 76, upon the voids on paper band 20, made by the tobacco removing device (56. These feed rollers 107 and 108 rotate. continuously toward each other, and their surfaces 111 and 112 are pro vided wit-h. triangular registering recesses 114 and 113, respectively. These recesses ll-t and 113 are each titted with sharp points'and are aranged so that as the recesses register, they form a closed chamber having greatest width at the point of. registration, this chamber gradually decreasing in width as the rollers rotate. Accordingly, the tobacco 76 supplied by feeder 77, which includes belts 117 and 118 moving toward each other over rollers 1.15 and 116, respectively, falls in the chamber formed by recesses 113 and 114, and is en- .closed thereby in a gradually decreasing amount, which is likewise deposited in voids 106 in a gradually decreasing amount, as shown in the drawings. As these reccsses 113 and 114 cover only a portion of the entireperiphery of the respective plantlng rollers in" order to produce the desired intermittent tobacco-planting action, it is not necessary that tobacco from hopper 74 on shaft 83. On the said shaft 83 is a pulley wheel 84 with a driving belt 85 which goes to a pulley and bevel ear, not shown in present drawing, but which connects with the large. drum driving wheel 34.

lVith further reference to Figure 2, which communicating with the interior 0*? my to bacco removing mechanism at 66 is an air pump 8'? operated by the wrist pin 88 and crank 89 on the shaft 89. 'l'77l is a top view of the tobacco feed mechanism in the auxiliary bin 74 and the pulley 31 and belt '11 and pulley 79 and connecting belt is shown in top view loolring down.

The large driving drum or cylindrical pulley 34 is driven by the belt running over the small motor pinion 5104 the electric motor 52. ,The centrifugal blower or drying apparatus 54 is mounted on shaft 93 which is driven from pulley 34 through in termcshing beveled gears 94 and 95, pulleys 84 and 92 and belt connecting these pulleys. The large beveled gear 57 is again shown but with the reciprocating knife mechanism removed therefrom in the interests of clarity. The cigarette is again shown at 65, severed from the tobacco rope made from the said paper band 29 and the tobacco 49.

With further reference to Figure 3, 20 is the paper band which has been run through my apparatus in the direction of the arrow 96, and containing the two tobaccos 49 aud 76' respectively. Due to my tobacco removing mechanism, and myvassociated synchronized tobacco planting mechanism, there appear in regularly spaced intervals between the imprints or band marks 979797 97-97, the two tobaccos upon the band.

With further reference to Figure 4, T have a longitudinal section through one of my compound cigarettes showing the tobaccos at 49 and 76. The end 98 of this cigarette is the end adapted to be lighted, and the condensation products from the tobacco 76 condense in the tobacco 49 the cross section of the stronger tobacco 76 growing smaller as smoked, and the cross section of the tobacco 49 growing larger.

In Fig. 5 there is shown the pa er cigarette band at 20, carrying the to acco 49 spread uniformly or evenly upon it by the standard mechanism of the main tobacco bin not shown again here. 67 is the centrifugal blower, and 66 is the housing of the tobacco removing device, and 72 the uptake therefrom. 99 is the end of the tobacco removing device which consists of a hollow drum which rotates in the direction of the arrow 100, being driven by a belt so as to-have a peripheral speed the same as the speed of movement of the paper band to make one revolution when the paper band 20 with the transversely printed bands 97 9797 come underneath as said paper band 20 travels in the direction of the arrow 101. 70 is one of the driving drum wheels operated by the belt 71 from the drum pulley wheel 31 operated by the belt 30 which con sists of a very pliable friction belt, and which comes in close contact with the cigarette paper 20, especially within the forming cone 36. 33 is one of the belt tighten-- ing drum pulleys. its the hollow tobacco removing drum wheel 99 revolves, its ofiset or recess in its periphery 102 having a per iterated face sweeps over the tobacco 49, and air is drawn. through a series or small holes 103, which communicate with the interior oi? the revolving cylindrical device 99. The dotted arrow 104 shows how tobacco may be drawn to and pulled against the small openings 103, as the member 99, which has the air pumped from its interior by a synchronized pump, revolves. And it may also be readily appreciated that during the period of revolution of the hollow drum member 99 that in place 01 a vacuum within the cylinder member 99, an air pressure may be automatically and synchronously substituted therefor by a synchronously operated pump, exhausting air in the direction of the dotted arrow 104 and later releasing the tobacco 49, which had been held against the small openings 103, by an alternate air ressure from the pump and a blast of air irom the blower 67 to carry the tobacco particles in the direction ofthe long arrow 105 up the uptake 72. As the band of paper 20 is advancing from right to left or in the direction of the arrow 101, and as the cylindrical, vacuum-pressure device revolves, some of the tobacco 49 is removed by suction in a more'or less wedge-shaped mass, leaving a void 106 shown approaching under the tobacco planting cylinders 10'? and 108. These cylinders are rotated at a rate such that as each void 1013 comes beneath the line of contact of the cylinders, tobacco which is discharged from the recesses 111 and 112 in the surfaces of the cylinders, is dropped into the void. In the recesses are sharp projections 113 and 114 for holding the tobacco until it is released, this tobacco being introduced into recesses 111 and 112 by rotating rolls 115 and 116 discharging tobacco 76 from container 74".

With further reference to Figure 6 we have a top plan view partially in section of this apparatus where the paper cigarette band is again shown at 20, the tobacco 49 from the first bin or reservoir 41, a section through the housing of the tobacco removing device at 6.6 and a view of the revolving tobacco removing cylinder I partially cut away at 99, but leaving projecting upward 1n elevation a tip of the triangular recess memher 102, having a perforated face showing some of the small holes 103 therein. lhe driving mechanism of this revolving tobacco removing device is shown again by a pulley 70, a belt 71, a pulley 31 and a belt 68 which also drive the pulleys 79 and 80 of the tobacco planting device.

The revolving tobacco removing device 99 where it is cut away, shows its interior in communication with the pump 87 equipped with a pet-cock 119 by means of which variations of vacuum on the one hand and the amount of air compression on the other hand may be regulated, depending upon how much by-pass is allowed by the adjusting of said pct-cock 119. The arrows 120 and 121 respectively show the alternating vacuum and air pressure, set 11 within the cylinder 99, insynchronism wit its revolutrons, drawing the tobacco 49 alternately against the numerous small openings or holes 103, and expelling it alternately into the housing 66, to be swept upward by a blast of the centrifugal fan 67 shown in the previous illustrations. The pump 87 has a piston 122 operated from the wrist pin 88 of the crank disk 89 upon the shaft 83. It will thus be seen that as the paper band 20, carrying the tobacco in a uniform depth of layer or substantially uniform depth of layer passes under the tobacco removing cylinder 99, the tobacco is removed from the band, carried around with the cylinder, and expelled, leaves voids 106 in the band of tobacco at equally spaced intervals.

llhe tobacco planting device, receiving tobacco from the feeding mechanism 77, deposits this tobacco in the voids in the band so that the band is substantially of uniform shape and size after leaving the planting drums, but contains .tobaccos of two different kinds, arranged as shown in Fig. 3.

The strip of paper with the tobacco on it, passing from the planting drums, is led through the usual cone, in which thepa-per is rolled to form the usual tubular cylinder which encloses the tobacco. The overlapping edges of the paper are then pasted by suitable mechanism, and delivered by an air blast, after which the rope is cut into suitable lengths, the line of severance passing across the band at the forward end of each void in which the stronger tobacco has been deposited.

Instead of depositing stronger tobacco in the form of a triangular mass on the paper band, the machine may be operated merely to distribute additional tobacco on the band at the appropriate points, or some suitable flavoring material may be distributed by the action of the planting drums. Also, instead of the stronger tobacco being deposited in the form of a wedge-shaped mass, masses of other shapes may be incorporated in the rope.

Claims:

1. In a cigarette making machine, [the combination of means for continuouslyadvancing a band of paper, feeding mechanism operating to deposit a continuous layer of tobacco on the band, mechanism for removing tobacco from the band at spaced intervals, and means for feeding tobacco to replace that removed.

, 2. In a cigarette making machine, the combination of means for continuously advancing a band of paper, feeding mecha nism operating to deposit a continuous layer of tobacco on the band, mechanism for removing portions of the tobacco on the band lying at intervals along the band and mechanism for depositing tobacco of a different kind at said intervals on the band.

3. In a cigarette making machine, the combination of means for continuously advancing a band of paper, feeding mechanism operating to deposit a continuous layer of tobacco on the band, suction mechanism for removing tobacco from the band to leave spaced voids, and means for filling these voids with tobacco. I

t. In a cigarette making machine, the combination of means for continuously advancing a band of paper, feeding mechanism operating to deposit a continuous layer of tobacco on the band, a rotary suction member contacting with the tobacco on the band and intermittently operative to remove masses of tobacco therefrom, and means for depositing tobacco on the band to replace that removed. I

5. In a cigarette making machine, the combination of means for continuously advanc ing a band of paper, feeding mechanism op crating to deposit a continuous layer of tobacco on the band, mechanism for removing portions of the tobacco lying at spaced intervals along the band, mechanism for replacing the tobacco thus removed with tobacco of a different kind, means for folding the paper to form a wrapper of indefinite length for the tobacco, and means operating to sever the wrapper into lengths with the line of severance lying at one end of the mass of tobacco placed on the band to replace thatremoved by the first-mentioned mechanism 6. In a cigarette making machine, the com bination of means for continuously advancing a band of paper, feeding mechanism for depositing a continuous layerof tobacco on the band, means operating to remove spaced portions of the layer of tobacco and means operating to substitute tobacco of a different kind for the portions of tobacco removed from the band.

7 In a cigarette making machine, the combination of means for continuously advancing a band of paper, means for depositing a continuous layer of tobacco on the paper, a hollow rotary element having a perforated face contacting with the layer of tobacco, and means for alternatelz creating pressure and artial vacuum within the element, Whereib tobacco from the layer and discharges it.

8. In a cigarettemaking machine, the com bination of means for continuously advancing. a band of paper carrying a layer of tobacco, means for removing portions of said tobacco to form spaced voids, and feeding mechanism for intermittently depositing different tobacco in these voids to form a continuous layer of tobacco on the band.

9. In a cigarette making machine, the com bination of means for continuously advano ing a band of paper carrying a layer of tobacco having spaced voids substantially of predetermined shape, feeding mechanism f oi Patent No. 1,721,117;

y the latter removes a portion of the eminent or CORRECTION.

- ously applying a uniform layer of tobacco thereto, a suction device adjacent the sinface of said layer for removing spaced por- I tions to form voids therein, a feed device adjacent said layer for intermittently deposit-' ing a different tobacco in the voids therein to again form a continuous layer, means for folding and securing the paper around the tobacco and means for severing equal lengths from the rope thus formed.

Signed at New York city, in the countyof New York and State of New York, this 20th day of March A. D. 1925., l

NEVIL MONROE HOPKINS.

Gi'ented July 16, 1929, to

NEVIL MONROE norkms.

It is hereby above numbered patent requiring correction as follower certified that ei'ror appears in the printed specification of the Page 4, line 41, before the word "leaves" insert the Words "and this action"; and that the aid Letter: Patent should be read with this correction therein that the some may coniorm to the record of the code in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 13th day of August, A. D. 1929.

i M: J. Moore, Acting Commiesioner of Patents. 

